Video games and sports have gone hand-in-hand ever since the entertainment medium first got its roots. The first-ever video game created was considered a sports game. In 1958, American physicist William Higinbotham invented a tennis game on an oscilloscope at the Brookhaven National Laboratory for a public exhibition called Tennis for Two. In 1972, Pong made its debut on the Atari arcades. Since then, sports video games evolved to become a multi-billion dollar business. This article celebrates our favorites by ranking the top 5 sports video games of all time.
5. NFL Blitz 2003 (2002; PlayStation 2, Xbox)
What set apart the NFL Blitz franchise from its contemporaries was its quirky and over-the-top gameplay. The arcade-style action was a perfect counter to the more realism-focused Madden franchise. The game got its first iteration in 1997 named Blitz and was released annually until 2003, when the NFL began emphasizing a more family-friendly approach to the sport and began restricting licenses more heavily. As a result, developers Midway continued to launch their game under an unlicensed brand titled Blitz: The League. NFL Blitz 2002 had a major graphical overhaul compared to its predecessors and nailed the perfect combination of fun and aggressive gameplay that makes it a legendary game even today. In 2012, the series received a one-time reboot from Electronic Arts (EA), titled NFL Blitz 2012.
4. WWF No Mercy (2000; Nintendo 64)
Wrestling video games have always been popular titles. WWF (now WWE) released many video game titles in the late ’80s and early ’90s. These games were good for their time, but none of them quite hit that balance of great presentation and addictive gameplay. At the time, wrestling games infamously felt like controlling a tank and had clunky controls. After WWF WarZone was released, publishers THQ acquired the WWF license and sourced the game to Japanese developers. WWF No Mercy was released in 2000 and was widely praised for its simplistic controls and fun gameplay, making it a major improvement over previous iterations. Notably, Championship Mode allowed players to experience branching storylines with different characters, which kept gamers coming back for years (and decades) on end. To this day, wrestling video games are major sellers, with WWF No Mercy laying the foundations.
3. NBA Street Vol. 2 (2003; PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube)
The greatest video games are the ones that hold up extremely well over time, and there’s something about this game that just works. The sheer amount of quality replayability, soundtrack, quirky graphics, and overall fun made NBA Street Vol. 2 a legendary game. It’s these types of games, along with titles like NBA Jam, that are sorely missing in the current gaming landscape.
NBA Street Vol. 2 emphasizes a more fast-paced and arcade style of gameplay over realism, with the core gameplay hook featuring over-the-top dunks, three-pointers, and an “on fire” mechanic where players heat up after performing well, giving them boosts to certain abilities. It also allowed for online multiplayer matches, a rare feature in those days. Bring these types of games back!
2. MVP Baseball 2005 (2005; PlayStation 2, Xbox, PC)
Speaking of great soundtracks, MVP Baseball 2005 had one of the most celebrated soundtracks in all of gaming history, featuring songs from bands like Franz Ferdinand and Chronic Future. The gameplay was the real crown jewel, along with several other game modes that enabled endless replayability. Dynasty Mode allowed players to manage a franchise spanning multiple seasons (up to 120 years!), allowing them complete control over things like scouting, trades, and more.
It also featured Owner Mode, which offered an even deeper management mode such as upgrading stadiums and balancing financials. It was also one of the first few baseball games to feature fully depicted real-life stadiums with full day/night cycles. Incredibly, the PC version of this game has been modded by the users to allow for updated rosters even today. Talk about longevity.
1. Tony Hawks Pro Skater 2 (2000; PlayStation, Nintendo 64)
The crème de la crème of video game series. The Tony Hawks Pro Skater franchise is one of the greatest video game series to exist. As with most games on this list, it features a soundtrack full of earworms such as the title song “Guerrilla Radio” by Rage Against the Machine. THPS 2 improved upon the first game in almost every faucet, but the best thing was the in-depth character creator. Players can create their own skaters and play as them in Career Mode, where they earn money completing various tasks and use the money to learn bigger and better tricks, skateboard decks, and build their attributes. The game also debuted Create a Skatepark, allowing you to create a park with assets such as rails, ramps, halfpipes, and anything you can think of to kickflip over.
The game launched the platform for further success in the THPS franchise, releasing two more games before re-branding to Tony Hawk’s Underground (THUG). In 2020, a re-make of both THPS 1 and 2 was bundled and released on next-generation consoles PS5 and Xbox Series S/X.
